


Hidden Motives

by dearestones (Devin_Trinidad)



Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/M, God Complex, Light finds you interesting, M/M, Manipulation, Mind Games, Reader is gender neutral, Yandere character, slight victim blaming, yandere behavior, you don't want him to do that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:01:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29263953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Devin_Trinidad/pseuds/dearestones
Summary: Yagami Light finds you interesting and wants to get to know you better.You'd rather he didn't.
Relationships: Yagami Light/Main Character, Yagami Light/Reader, Yandere! Light Yagami/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 45





	1. Chapter 1

“Well, what do you think about Kira?” 

His words are soft, slow. Imploring. You can’t quite make out the edge in his words, but you know it’s there. After weeks of tension and the media becoming more and more focused on the supposed mastermind behind the killings, you didn’t know what to say. 

Or how to respond when Yagami Light approached you. 

It was almost the end of your final school year. Many of your classmates including yourself were busy studying for the entrance exams of whichever university you chose. Yagami was no exception. 

Except, it was the way he went about it, that is. 

For a while now, you had observed and admired him from afar. How could you not? Girls found him dashing and intelligent while the boys found him worthy of conversation and admiration. You had barely spoken to him and when you did, it was all in passing. 

Yet, over the past few weeks or so, you had noticed something... off about your fellow classmate. 

He had never been the most outgoing of people, preferring to stay by himself to study, but he always found time to greet close acquaintances and catch up with those he had tutored in the past. Now, though, it seemed that he became enclosed in a little pocket of the world. 

Nothing could touch him.

At first, you had thought that it was the stress of finalizing his university or the eventuality of finally stepping out into the adult world. Perhaps it was the fact that you knew that his father was taking on more and more work at home—maybe relations were strained within the Yagami household. Whatever the case, you knew that such a smart young man such as himself wouldn’t let himself get bogged down by such trivial, emotional matters. 

He just didn’t seem to be the type. 

After a while, when it seems that his sudden withdrawal from the others would continue and the rest of your classmates couldn’t see anything wrong with it, you had decided to let it be. A part of you wanted to reach out and ask what was wrong, but you were simply one out of dozens of faces. 

To him, you were an average student with average prospects existing out of school. 

You wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t know your name or your face. 

All that changed when Lind L. Taylor broadcasted himself live and had subsequently died in national television after Kira had killed him. 

You were nobody. 

You were average. 

Your opinion shouldn’t have held so much weight, but when you had returned to class in the morning, classmates all abuzz with gossip and drama, a few classmates sought you out. They gathered around your desk and tentatively asked if you heard about the standoff between the strange detective and the even more vague form of an entity that killed only criminals. 

You nodded. 

Who hadn’t heard or had seen any of it?

It was broadcasted everywhere within the region. 

After answering, you were then bombarded somewhat relentlessly, left and right, about your opinions about Kira and this “L” person. When questioned by your classmates, you felt almost threatened by their incessant conversation. It was somewhat jarring—what happened to the classmates who would usually be arguing about their pop idols or what professions they wanted to pursue?

The questioning left you bewildered.

And frightened. 

To see Kira kill on tv was one thing. 

To know that your classmates were just as impacted as you were... it honestly terrified you. 

And then—

Walking towards your desk, your savior came to save the day. 

With a genial smile on his face and his posture relaxed into an almost slumped over manner, he addressed you and your friends. The teacher was coming, he had explained his intrusion. It would be best to stow away such conversation until after their English lesson. 

It only took a small, but genuine chuckle before your classmates nodded and backed away, wishing you and the star student a good day. 

Although getting accosted by your classmates wasn’t something too terrible, you would not have felt right if you didn’t say anything. 

So, like any other student, you said, “Thanks.” At his innocent look of confusion, you hesitantly elaborated, “All this talk about killings and Kira, I’m not sure of what to make of it.” 

Yagami looked down at you, his honey brown eyes surveying you, taking in your every breath, every thought that could be seen in your eyes. It almost seemed as if... as if he were judging you. 

But you shook that thought away. 

He was nothing more than a student with a promising future. No need to over analyze something benign as his stare!

“Well, what do you think about Kira?”

You... you don’t know what to say. In all honesty, politics had never interested you and while philosophy was interesting, you didn’t see the point in debating morality about something that was clearly a taboo subject in polite company. 

So, you choose to be honest. 

And when you finish your response, your words stuttering and halting—quite unlike his overly controlled and polite speech—you look up. And His face... 

His face is something that you don’t want to see ever again. Gone was his wide eyed gaze, the angelic features of a boy still trying to step forth into the adult world. He was staring—glaring—down at you. His gaze was cold—cold like the beginning of a winter chill. 

It shocked you. 

Never before had you see him like this. 

And then, just as suddenly as you had seen it, the coldness that had emanated from him vanished.

He relaxed and asked, in no uncertain terms, “I appreciate your insight. How about we talk about later? How about during a study session after class?” 

And you... you don’t know what to say.

How can you say no to the top student at your high school? 

How can you refuse such a wonderful young man? 

Doing so was foolhardy. How could you pass up the opportunity to do even better in your final classes and eventual entrance examination? 

But that look in his eyes...

He had a hidden motive, but why?

And so, much to your trepidation, you accepted.


	2. Chapter 2

Light doesn’t know what to make of you. Before that conversation, before your insight, before Kira, he knew of you, but he hadn’t known you. Not personally, anyway.

As the top student of his high school—and in all of Japan—he found it beneficial to be somewhat aware of all the students in his classroom and those in other sections. One could never know if someone needed his tutoring and it never hurt to be polite and knowledgeable about meeting new people. 

Before Kira, you were simply a footnote in Light’s head. You were simply a name, a face, and a small list of extracurriculars or particular features that did little to help you stand out. Like the majority of your classmates, you were average. Your future was wide, but not as particularly gleaming like Light’s prospects. 

In other words, if you had not spoken up, if Kira had never happened, you would have been just another face that Light didn’t bother to know. 

But the situation had changed.

You said something different. 

Had become something different in the blink of an eye, within the steady pacing of your measured response. 

As Kira, he wanted to raze that opinion that didn’t heavily align with his. He wanted to make you see that Kira was right. 

Kira was god. 

Kira could make the world a better place. 

Why question morality when morality could be spelled out in one word? 

Kira. 

As Light, stellar student and decent human being, he liked the challenge. He wanted to debate with you. He wanted to know what you felt, how you came to your conclusion that clearly piqued his interest. But most of all—

He wanted to hear your voice. 

He wanted to be near your presence. 

He wanted to put you in your place. 

True, there were others that probably had your same opinion. They probably could have worded it better, had better reasoning. But they weren’t you. They didn’t have the same unassuming presence you had. They weren’t easy targets that he could lure out into a quaint little cafe where they could easily talk. 

Where he could monitor you. 

This was a situation where he knew this wasn’t... ethical, per se, but he felt perturbed by your unassuming presence. If this was how he reacted to dissent now from those who had no power, no status over him, then how could he be the god of the new world? Gods had to lord themselves over the majority of the populace and that included people like you. 

The study session was going to be an experiment, a control study of sorts. This was to train himself to have better arguments as to why Kira was good.

Kira was justice. 

If that meant suffering through a stack of textbooks, then by all means, he was going to do it. 

And so, he arrived a scant five minutes early. This was to appear unconcerned, almost shamelessly confident if you were to be already there. It showed that he cared about your session, but that he wasn’t going to rush to the desired destination. If you were late and he was already there, then he could easily manipulate you into feeling guilt, embarrassment. Gratitude for taking time out of his busy schedule so that he could aid you in your studies. 

It was the least a god could do, right?

And so, he ordered. 

He sat. 

He waited. 

Checked his watch. 

And then—

When he thought that you were going to be like those types of people that the god of the new world could do without, you were there. 

Somewhat subdued, somewhat fearful of your tardiness.

But you were there. 

And he was glad. 

“Ah,” he breathed out your name like it was a warm, silky caress from his tongue.” He gestured towards his seat, facing him. You should always face him. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

You nod, trying to apologize, but he merely laughed it away. His disposition, his sweet words crawled under your skin. You felt... safer? Less apprehensive? But there was something wrong. You could sense it in his eyes, how he held himself in his chair. His sweet, honeyed words were nothing more than the bare bones structure of a mask. 

But—

Perhaps you were overreacting.

You glance askance to the side—out of respect for your study partner and to calm your frenzied thoughts and your over analytical thoughts. 

The study session carried out like any other session you had attended with friends or with other tutors over the years. You felt yourself relaxing into the routine of telling him your strengths and weaknesses in the academe, of what you wished to work on and what you wished to hone so that you could easily pass your final exams and prepare for university. 

For a moment, all pretense of what you thought you could see lurking underneath the surface had all but disappeared. 

You were lured in and until the last minute, you thought you were safe. 

As you were thanking him profusely for his help and placing your textbooks back into your bag, he asked you a question. 

It was benign. 

Softly spoken. 

But it was like lacing a needle with poison. Small, almost inconsequential, but very, very dangerous. 

“I couldn’t help but think more about what you said this morning. About Kira,” he added. He watched as you seemingly wilted, your thoughts becoming muddled before roaring into a French of confusion and panic. “I’ve been wondering, why?”

You searched for a response. Foolishly, you had thought that he would forget, that this study session was nothing more than an act of goodwill. Fool you were. He was only human. 

And you caught his attention. 

Unwittingly or not, this may have been your fault. 

And now you had to reap what you had sown. 

And so you explained. Haltingly, but gradually, you told him of your own experiences of dealing with the fallout of criminals. You told him of how you viewed good and evil in this world. You couldn’t help but think it childish to appeal to him this way, to defend an opinion that you weren’t so knowledgeable about, but the expression on his face urges you forward. 

Out of goodwill or simple curiosity? You had no idea. 

So you did the best you could to bolster your argument and when you finally looked up at him to affirm that you were finished, he simply stared. 

“I-I...” You stuttered out in anxiety. “If your opinion is different than mine, then that’s okay! I’m just... I don’t—“

His laugh startled you. 

It was low, almost husky. As if he had very little reason to laugh nowadays. It almost saddened you—such a lovely sound deserved to be heard more—before he glanced down at you, his bangs somewhat hiding his expression away. 

“You know... I know someone who knows the perfect way to describe you.” You swallowed thickly, wondering if you should ask what he meant. Fortunately, he had taken your hesitance to be questioning, so he answered anyway. “You’re interesting.”

His eyes held your own and for a moment, you knew that something was terribly off, but you could barely grasp what it was. 

He must have seen the look of realization because his laugh had become darker. Deeper. 

And all the more disturbing. 

“You should know, I don’t let interesting things pass me by.” He leaned his chin into the palm of his hand as he appraised you. “The world’s too boring for that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I do not condone yandere behavior outside of fictional settings. Please don’t mistake the actions of fictional characters displayed in works of fiction to be considered harmless in real life.


	3. Chapter 3

You would have thought that one study session with your classmate would have been enough. In fact, with how thorough and detailed the tips that he had left you, you would have thought that you would have been set for the rest of your school year and for the preparation of your college entrance examination. 

Yagami had left you confident and looking forward to challenging your intellectual prowess.

That is, until before you had left your first study session. There was something that he said… You weren’t really paying attention to him at that time—you were focused on organizing your notes and getting ready to leave. 

He had said… that you had interested him. 

But that didn’t make sense. 

He showed nothing more than a sense of professionalism and grace as he tutored you—did you interest him by being borderline incompetent until he showed you the way? Or was it something else? 

Was it…

Was it because of the things you had said about Kira? 

Truth be told, you had thought that Kira was nothing more than a passing topic. Why would Yagami continue pressing the issue about this notorious killer? It was such a brutal, merciless subject—you didn’t want to talk about it. You had thought that you made that quite clear with your uncertain and clearly uncomfortable body language.

And yet…

It almost seemed like your emotions didn’t register with the honor high school student.

Or, rather, he knew of what you were thinking, what you were feeling, but he didn’t care. 

You were interesting.

You entertained him.

At that moment, as you were busy gathering your necessary materials back into your school bag, you hadn’t focused all of your attention on him, but now, as you are thinking about it, it scared you.

The way he said it... It was almost as if you weren’t a human being but rather a tool to kill time. 

Was this how he always treated those he tutored? You had heard nothing more than good things about him—exemplary, model-like behavior, in fact. Even those who clearly resented or envied his position as the top student had nothing but good things to say about him. 

It was perplexing.

The one thing that stood out was Kira.

Kira.

Before you could fully process the fact that you were “interesting”, he leaned his chin atop the flat of his palm and leaned in, almost as if he were entranced by you. It was unnerving. You would think that he had more professionalism than that. But perhaps you were expecting too much from a high school student. 

Because that’s all he was, right? 

As he leaned forward, he asked in a tone of voice that definitely did not brook any room for argument, “We should have another study session.” 

He addressed you by name, the syllables running off his tongue like oil slick stagnating on water. 

It sickened you. 

He shouldn’t say it like that—informally, friendly. 

It was irrational of you to think so, but it nagged at the corners of your brain, telling you to be wary. To be careful. 

But you had to be polite. 

You were raised that way. 

“Oh?” You managed a small show of thinking his offer over before you finally shook your head, a slight smile on your face. (A part of you hoped that your anxiety didn’t show as you fingered the strap of your backpack). “No, thank you. Really, you did a lot of work in helping me, but I don’t think that will be necessary.”

You had expected a prompt response. People like him were quick and to the point, you didn’t expect him to mull it over in his head before providing his answer.

It wasn’t one that you expected. 

“You’re an average student,” he said firmly. 

You stiffened in your seat, not quite ready to hear what he had to say. Already, you had a feeling that it was going to be anything but good. 

“But I can see so much potential in you.” His voice was soft, almost as if he actually cared about you. Perhaps he did. But you were sure, from previous observations and the fact that you had never talked to him before, had never known him much before this moment, that you knew that there was something else going on. He had an agenda that he was catering too, but you had no idea what. “If you stick by me, then you can reach it. Getting into your chosen university won’t be as hard as you would think it will be.”

He smiled at you and, for a moment, you were somewhat charmed. How could you not be? He was charismatic, well-spoken, and not too bad to look at. But your instincts told you otherwise. 

There was something hidden in the depths of his eyes. If you looked too closely, you feared that he would pull you in with no hope of letting you escape. 

Still, you had to respond.

Be polite, you though. Be polite, you have to get through this. 

You could easily manage to get out of another study session with Yagami, right? There was no way that he could possibly manipulate you into staying with him for more sessions. 

Right?

And so, you said, “I really do appreciate it, but I really need to go.” You paused, thinking about the consequences of speaking furthermore, but you wanted to end the conversation quickly. Preferably, you wanted to end the conversation without inviting more excuses for him to seek you out. This had to stop. “Now.”

You were ready to flee the area—as politely as possible, of course—but he held up a hand. 

And, for some odd reason, you obeyed his silent command. 

He looked at you, really looked at you, and the look on his face was chilling. You could feel it encase your bones in ice, chill the blood flowing in your veins until it all but stuttered to a halt. 

“Are you sure about that? Are you really sure?” He pressed for answers and even though he kept his distance from his seat across from you, the sensation of being smothered left you breathless and utterly bereft of thought. “What we’ve discussed barely covers a tenth of the coverage that will be on the final exams, much less the entrance examination. Do you really want to pass up the opportunity to excel?”

It was true.

You were average.

You were not on the same level as Yagami. 

If he was being genuine (and the way he tutored you was more than enough proof of that) then you would surely benefit.

However—

People don’t just do things without payment. Yagami was fishing for something that you had, but you didn’t know what.

So, you had to ask.

The worst he could do was lie to you.

And that’s what you were expecting anyway.

“Because,” he murmured. “You’re interesting. And what interests me, I want to keep in my life.”

You were not expecting that.

And you were not expecting the hesitant nod you gave him that he took to mean that you had accepted his offer. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I do not condone yandere behavior outside of fictional settings. Please don’t mistake the actions of fictional characters displayed in works of fiction to be considered harmless in real life.

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I do not condone yandere behavior outside of fictional settings. Please don’t mistake the actions of fictional characters displayed in works of fiction to be considered harmless in real life.


End file.
